Nowadays, everyone knows Marvel’s Spider-Man or the Batman Arkham series, but very few know which comics inspired these and many other games.
These are some of the comics that made a straight jump to the world of video games and why they are worth looking into.
Fables From Vertigo
The DC Vertigo line-up didn’t have the same success as its superhero counterpart, but no one can deny it had some of the best stories of the editorial, with novels like Sandman, Hellblazer, or, in this case, Fables.
Written by Bill Willingham, this series takes popular characters like Pinocchio, Snow White, and Three Blind Mice and puts them together in a secret community, Fabletown, set in modern New York.
Getting back to the games in 2013, Telltale Games released The Wolf Among Us, a narrative adventure in which players control Bigby Wolf, a sheriff who must solve a series of murders occurring in Fabletown. The story is set as a prequel to the comics, so it’s an excellent starting point for fans and new people interested in the Fables series.
300
Greek history and mythology have inspired hundreds of games, like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey or Gates of Olympus. However, if there’s one story that caught everyone’s eye, it’s 300, the comic by Frank Miller that was later adapted into a movie by Zack Snyder.
The comic is a free adaptation of the Thermopylae battle, in which an army of 300 Spartans fought the Persian army led by Xerxes. Being a habit of those times, the movie launch was accompanied by a game released for the PSP called 300: March to Glory.
The game is no God of War, with the combat being pretty simplistic. However, it uses art and pages from the comic for the cutscenes, so it’s not bad to check it out.
Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life
There’s probably no fan of video games (or comics) that haven’t heard about Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life or any of their adaptations. Written by Bryan Lee O’Malley, the comic tells the story of 22-year-old Scott Pilgrim heading face-to-face with the girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers, her evil exes, and his errors of the past.
In 2010, the series received a video game adaptation called Scott Pilgrim Vs the World: The Game. A beat-em-up where up to four players could control Scott and his friends and defeat the League of Evil exes.
Although the design is strongly based on the comics, the game’s endings are vastly different from any other adaptation, so it’s worth playing with friends, especially now that it has been re-released for modern consoles and PC.
Marvel’s Civil War
Throughout its 85-year history, Marvel Comics has had many different big events. However, there’s one in particular that sets a before-and-after for all of its heroes, and that is Civil War.
Written by Mark Millar between 2006 and 2007, the story explored the conflict between Captain America and Iron Man due to the Superhero Registration Act. A law that would require all heroes to work for SHIELD or be hunted down as criminals.
After the event’s end, Activision released Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, which closely follows the events of the comics. The game had similar gameplay to its predecessor, with players being able to create teams of four characters and combine their powers to deal with enemies.
Ultimate Alliance 2 is not a perfect adaptation, with endings being very different from the 616 universe. However, it’s still the closest adaptation of the event, making it a must-play for any Marvel fan or reader of Peach Momoko’s recent Demon Wars.
Ultimate Spider-Man (By Michael Brian Bendis)
During the first years of the 2000s, Marvel wanted to revitalize Spider-Man for new readers, leading to the creation of Ultimate Spider-Man, a comic series written by Michael Brian Bendis that retold Peter Parker’s teenage life in a separate, more modern, and realistic universe.
Bendis’s run was so successful that it led to the expansion of the Ultimate Universe and a video game released for the PS2 and Xbox, which adapted the “War of the Symbiotes” arc from numbers #123-128.
Ultimate had simpler web-swinging mechanics than other Spider-Man games of that time. However, it compensated with a unique design that combined comic panels, cel-shaded models, and a fully playable Venom, making it a treat for any comic fan.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Turtles Brothers have been featured in hundreds of games since the 90s. However, these usually don’t take inspiration from the comics but from the animated series and movies.
There is one. However, that tried to adapt those stories, and it is TMNT: Mutants in Manhattan, a fast beat-up developed by Platinum Games and supervised by Tom Waltz, one of the writers behind the IDW run, which ended this year.
Although Mutants in Manhattan had a great design and story, the repetitive gameplay and lack of local co-op earned the game bad reviews. Still, it’s not a bad choice for anyone looking for a different take on Leonardo, Michelangelo, Rafael, and Donatello.
THQ Nordic announced last year that a video game adaptation of TMNT: The Last Ronin series is currently in development. So, time will tell if the ninja brothers (or at least one of them) will finally get the spotlight on consoles and PCs.
What Brings The Future For Comic Adaptations?
With comics becoming increasingly popular, many characters have jumped directly to consoles without passing through movies or series. One recent example of this was Gwenpool in Fortnite or DC using the Batman Who Laughs as the main villain of DC Dark Legion.
If the adaptation of The Last Ronin is successful, it could open the gate for more comic adaptations, as has happened with books like Metro, Lord of the Rings, The Witcher, and most recently, Harry Potter with Hogwarts Legacy.
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